VitaClay Smart Organic Clay Pot Multi Cooker - Toxin Free Clay Rice Cooker, Delay Start Slow Cooker, Stew Cooker, Electric Soup Pot, Yogurt Maker, with Natural Earthen Clay Crock, 8 Cup / 4.2-Quart

I bought this slow cooker three years ago. I don’t trust most slow cookers because of their non-stick inner pot even if they are stainless steel on the outside. There are some on the market which have a stainless steel pot, however I thought that the flavor benefits of the porous even heating surface of the clay would be worth trying.So, three years later we are using the pot almost every day! I like to make very creamy porridge in the mornings. Either I put all the ingredients in the night before and set the automatic delay timer on, or I do it in the mornings and don’t have to worry about watching the pot or turning the heat off when it’s done. The automatic keep warm function is very handy for that. I add wheat germ, raisins for sweetness, hemp seeds and sometimes collagen powder along with the milk to our porridge recipe. I can’t tell you how glad I am to make something so nutritious for my kids for breakfasts with the minimum energy and effort. No more than it takes really to pour a cup of cereal!Other than for breakfasts I use this pot to make quick easy and nutritious meals when we have an extra busy day and either I only have 30mins to prepare a meal, or we need something ready as soon as we get home. Some of my favorite recipes that are a staple now in our family and are part of my recipe collection came from the recipe book that comes with the VitaClay. For example, the veggie sauce just involves cutting up the veggies and then pouring everything into the pot and setting it on stew function for two hours. It takes about 20mins to put everything together but the sauce is super healthy and I love the taste, it seems way more sophisticated than it really is and can easily be used as a main meal with some kind of protein added. Another favorite recipe from the book is their lentil stew and their minestrone soup. It’s my favorite minestrone soup recipe :)Lastly, I love using the pot to make something extra that would otherwise take up too much burner space on the oven top or be too much fuss. E.g. a side of rice or soup. I just have to put in the ingredients and then it cooks, switches off and keeps warm so I don’t have to pay attention to that and just focus on the rest of the menu. Wonderful! Impress your guests with how much you can cook in a short period of time :)There are only a couple downsides for this pot that we have found. Firstly, we are a family of four and sometimes I wish the pot was bigger so I could double the recipes and have enough left overs for a second meal the following day. At the moment only a little is leftover, enough for a side maybe. Also it’s not really big enough to make bone broth in bulk.Second point is that I would not use the pot to make yoghurt. The yoghurt I tried to make several times came out a little soggy and didn’t taste that great. I think that perhaps the porous nature of the pot means that unless you have any to do an extra tough cleaning job before you make your yoghurt the bacteria and flavors from your savory meals probably won’t mix well with making a vanilla yoghurt if you know what I mean! It’s just like a cast iron pan retains flavors I suppose. I just got a special yoghurt maker with separate small glass pots for making yoghurt and we shall see how that goes.Thirdly, although the recipe book is genius, the instruction manual is dodgy to say the least. The English is a little poor and you can tell someone who’s English is their second language wrote it. Secondly, there is an issue with the delay function. I believe you set the timer for the time you want the food to start cooking rather the time you want it to finish. However the manual says the opposite lol. Once you get the hang of how the slowcooker works you don’t really need the manual anymore for the most part and that’s a great relief.Lastly, our lid did break once but it was my husband dropping it by accident. We got a replacement shipped with no problems and have had no other breakages thus far. I am careful not to create sudden changes of temperature for the pot or put it in the sink with other dishes.The lid is hard to lift but the new models I believe come with a little metal hook which solves the problem with the flat lid knob. Customer service did ship me the metal hook after I asked which was great.Some of the The porridge can get stuck on the bottom if I don’t add enough liquid or leave it on warm for too long. However it’s easy to get off since it scrapes off with a wood spatula safely or if the worst comes to the worst you can just cook another meal in it and it will loosen up the bottom burn on.

I initially purchased the VitaClay because I was looking for a ricecooker without a metal / teflon-coated cooking vessel. This slow cooker's pot / vessel is made of unglazed clay. It gets your food hotter in quicker time than traditional slow cookers with glazed vessels. Cuts cook time in half. As far as rice cooking, I mean, it cooks every variety of rice perfectly, supposing you can figure out how much water to pour in. It cooks cous cous, as well as beans, lentils, etc..I have not used it to make yogurt yet, but it has a yogurt making function. The timer and delay start function work well. The vessel cleans like a breeze; it takes less than two minutes to thoroughly clean and dry both vessel and lid. I purchased a silicone steam basket that fits perfectly in the pot; the lid covers and top closes even with the basket, so I can steam veggies or proteins while cooking rice. It also allows use of the unit as a steamer; it isn't really a fast steamer, but it isn't what it was made for.I am a 25 year old dude, and I use this thing pretty much every day. You can set it in the morning to have steel cut oats and fruit ready for breakfast; you can have steamed rice and veggies waiting hot and warm at day's end. Also, you can buy extra clay pots and lids for approximately 25 dollars from the company; so, real easy to have something made in the fridge and then throw it in the unit, especially given the quick cook times. I have had my unit for 5 months, and I think I'm vitaclay's best spokesperson because I tell all my friend and family about this thing.The Bad?Well, the first unit I received through my amazon order had a defunct clock and timer; it would flash an error signal that pretty much meant it was busted. Amazon returns are quick and easy though, and I have had my second unit for almost six months. It sees heavy use.My last critique relates to the zisha clay from which it is made. The stuff comes from China, which sounds cool, but China is home to some serious pollution, and who knows whats in the groundwater over there (hey, we don't know here in the States either). So, I was initially attracted to the Vitaclay because I wanted to avoid marginal worries about teflon and aluminum toxicity. Why trade de minimis worry for a pot made of clay from a heavily polluted place? For its part, Vitaclay says it batch tests everything for lead and other harmfuls in accord w/ certain import regulations/standards. It is all well-documented on their website. Really though, the health question comes down to a bit of faith I think; hope this clay is safe.And, I want the clay to be safe because this is the best dang kitchen appliance I have ever owned.I am about to buy one for my mom, and I'm going to buy myself an extra pot and lid.